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The Grass is Always Greener
Introductions This was the spot. Tabart lifted his arm up, inspecting the time on his watch: 2:35PM. That was the time he was told, yet, there was simply no one here. Was the information faulty or wrong? Or, was he compromised? Ever since he had begun to get involved with the Underworld, he found that information was far more accessible than anyone could have ever imagined. You could learn about marine routes, locations of infamous, vile criminals, or pretty much whatever you wanted to learn. Devil Fruits, he found, were often the most talked about. However, many of those tales ended merely in myth and rumor. Though, he was sure that this information was good. The broker he acquired it from had never lied before, so why weren't operatives of the Wung Family here? Did he... The metal barrel of the gun touched his neck. He exhaled deeply, recognizing what came next. Therefore, he simply put his hands into the air slowly. "Good," one of the voiced behind him replied. It was a man's voice, rough and coarse as if worn by decades of smoking. Judging from where it came from, he suspected that this man was the only pushing his pistol at the back of Tabart's throat. "Put your hands behind your back. We're going to cuff you, and then put a bag over your head. You follow orders, we won't put a bullet in you." Tabart didn't move. "Crystal." Another arm grabbed his arms from behind, moving them until they were both behind his back. Before her heard the cuffs click, he felt them: sea stone. Then, the bag was gently placed over his head, and was directed down the tower where he was currently perched, unaware of where he was heading. The man held Tabart with a gun to his back, while pushing him from his tied up arms. Another man had appeared, this one would sound much younger to Tabart's ears. They walked for a few minutes through what seemed like pavement. From the distance, the many sounds of a city could be heard. The men said nothing to Tabart during the way, until one of them got a call through a Den Den Mushi. "Yes. We got the Warlord. Tell Mr. Samhain we'll be there shortly." After a few more minutes, they would stop in what seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, right in front of a massive broccoli shaped tree, though Tabart wouldn't be able to see it. Suddenly, the ground beneath them began to vibrate, which was followed by the feeling of them descending and the sound of machinery. Indeed, Tabart would feel the fresh air would begin to fade away as they descended even deeper. As they reached their destination, loud, mechanical sounds would be even louder and more varied, almost as if he was inside a workshop of sorts. Walking forward for a minute or two, the sound of machinery and people muttering would also fade into the distance, as Tabart was pushed to enter a room filled with air conditioner, and it had a particular fragrance. "Mr. Samhain, se brought him as you requested." "Yes, yes..." An elegant sounding voice responded. The bag over Tabart's head was removed, revealing that sitting in a desk before him, a golden haired man fiddled with his fingers, staring intently at Tabart. One of the guards who had "escorted" him here, placed his hand on Tabart's shoulder, forcing him down to sit in a nearby chair. In the wall behind the man in front, was a symbol, rather a crest, one that Tabart could possibly recognize. It was the family sygil of the . On his left side, a wide window glass revealed to Tabart what were those sounds from before. Massive airships were docked as far as the eye could see, crew's of mechanics mounted in intricate machinery, doing repairs and checkups on the ships, while at the same time they were being loaded by massive crates, each crate having a symbol which identified what was inside them. "Benjamin Tabart, it is a pleasure. Before anything else, introductions are in order," the man said, standing up, and placing his palm on his chest. "My name is Donquixote Samhain, the Executive of Operations of the Wung Family...but, you knew that already, right?" Samhain snickered in a sarcastic tone. He filled himself a glass of wine, and sat down. "I got to say...when I heard one of the Seven Warlords was looking for us specifically, my golden heart skipped a beat. But," he sipped some wine. "To think we'd be able to capture you so easily. It would be so simple to kill you right now..." Samhain said in a sinister tone. "But...given your reputation, I refuse to believe you'd be so weak, which means...you didn't come here to destroy us..." He motioned to the men to leave the room. "From a Celestial Dragon to another...what are your real intentions, Bathory?" Samhain leaned back on his chair, as he muttered Tabart's true family name. "Apologies for my statement, Samhain-sama," Tabart replied, "But you're less of a Celestial Dragon, and more of a Fallen Dragon wouldn't you think? Besides, I'm feeling a little dizzy right now. I can barely muster up enough strength to speak." He smirked, turning his back slightly to bring the seastone cuffs to Samhain's attention. "If you want me to speak, I might need these removed. You know, from one Dragon to another." The golden haired man's eyes twitched at Tabart's remarks. "You're really are a smartass, as the rumors say..." His expression was calm and collected, yet his wine cup cracked a bit as he sipped more wine. Samhain stood up, and walked slowly towards Tabart's side. "Let me make something clear, first. You're stronger than me, Tabart..." He leaned close to Tabart's face. "But if you think using force, using me as a hostage, or even killing me would make you acquire whatever it is you plan on doing here...think again." He straightened himself, and leaned into the desk, sitting just a few feet from Tabart. Extending his right arm forward, it seemed it would hit Tabart's face, however, a circular, purple shaped object appeared right in his arm's path, as it entered this strange object. He pulled his arm back, only for his "gate" to vanish, and he now held a key on his hand, which he waved in Tabart's face. "Normally I'd just kill whoever attempted such boldness...but coming from you...You don't do things without a reason, or, so they say, ha!" Samhain inhaled deeply, as he once again struck his arm in midair, a "gate" appearing right in front of it. This time, however, another one appeared near Tabart's back, revealing Samhain's arm which he held the key. "I'm busy, but I'll make a bit of time for you..." "Clack!" Tabart's Kairoseki handcuffs opened. "Ah, sweet!" Tabart cheered, stretching his arms in the moment that the cuffs dropped from his wrist. He smiled. "Thanks about that, Samhain-senpai! You know though, I heard all about you when growing up Mary Geoise. They said that you were a complete dumbass, you know. He who gave up his heritage for money. To be honest, I thought they were right. Like, I said what an idiot, we have unlimited sums of cash! but now I realize, you weren't stupid. There's so much paper to be made in this business." He sat back, relaxing in his chair. "I mean, a lot of paper to made, Samhain." Samhain’s eyes widened from irritation at Tabart’s words. His eyes twitched once more, as he continued to sip some wine, slightly cracking his cup with his grip. “You’re quite cheeky, you know that? You’re lucky I am patient and tolerant, unlike my Boss...” He grabbed another cup, and served some wine for Tabart. “Yes. I “gave up” the power I was born into. But, it wasn’t just for money.” He extended the wine cup to Tabart. “Those bastards from Mariejois will one day be dragged down for good from their comfortable palaces. The tides change rapidly, and so, I wanted to have a pull on this opposing force, which is why I took over many organizations, and even supplied to the various revolutionary groups.” He extended one arm upwards, clenching his fist in the air. “Yes, many families make mockery of us the Donquixote, for our constant connections to the “lower world”, but I think that is our virtue, don’t you think? We see beyond the power we earn by birth, beyond slaves, beyond being just “gods”... Samhain stood up, and walked over to the glass, staring at the factory/warehouse. “But yes, there is quite a bit of money and influence to be gained in this business, tell me then...what is your purpose here? I assume it’s something more than just earning some cash?” He said while turning his head to glance at the Warlord. "Nope!" Tabart replied casually. "It's entirely just for money. You see, I followed in your steps, Samhain-senpai! Well, minus getting captured, casted away from the Holy Land; all that shiznit." He smirked. "Yeah, you see. You're real big in this Wung Family thing, right? I thought that maybe I could talk to you and get a contract going. Because, I can help you guys as much as you can help me...well, not now, but eventually I could." He leaned forward. "You see, like you guys, the Bathory Family has always thought that it is not birthright that makes us Celestial Dragons worthy of our divinity, but rather it is our talents and might. We have trained to lead countries, as well as armies. For the Underworld to go so...unaffected by our affairs is something we cannot allow. My goal is to rise up and become an Emperor, Samhain-senpai. You're the only ones who can help me with that." “Hoo?” Samhain smirked and caressed his hair. He walked over towards his desk, sitting on his chair. “I see...you’re quite ambitious, reminds me of someone...In any case...” He placed his cup on the desk, and pondered. “We’ve destroyed and submitted many organizations, but to aid one in ascension, as a...sort of sponsor? Huh...the thought never crossed my mind.” Samhain leaned forward, placing his arms on the desk. “Only because it is YOU, that I don’t think such a statement is just empty words...HOWEVER!” He leaned back, picking and twirling his cup. “Such a proposal can’t be decided by myself. It would be better for the Boss to be here and decide himself. Even if it’s you, we need to determine whether your proposal it’s profitable in the long term, and whether it’s a sustainable business plan, Mr. Tabart. There are quite some variables for us to assess before accepting a deal with you.” "Oh, I completely understand!" Tabart replied, smiling as he waved his hand dismissively. "Yeah, go get the boss. It's important that he hears this too, since I'm going to make you guys, very, very rich if everything goes according to plan." He leaned backwards again. "That's a Bathory guarantee." “Hmpf, you sound confident enough,” responded Samhain as he picked up his Den Den Mushi, and marked a number. “Hey Boss, Samhain here. I’ll cut to the chase, I got the Shichibukai, Benjamin Tabart here in my office, and he wants to talk to us about some de-“ “Beeeeeeeep” Samhain slowly raised his eyes at Tabart. “So...he, hung up. In any case, he was supposed to be arriving to the island in less than an hour so, make yourself comfortable until he gets here.” Samhain was visibly affected after being hung up on. “I’ll go get more wine, and some treats...” However, less than half an hour passed, until... “The Boss has arrived!”, yelled a grunt as the elevator came down. From the office, Samhain observed through the glass window his arrival. As he drew closer, Samhain went and opened the door, allowing the boss to come inside. “Boss, I hope it was a good trip. I’m sorry, hehe, but we were expecting you a bit la-“ “Tabart, eh?” Behind Tabart stood the boss of the Wung Family, the true boss, Umori Kenshiro. His attire was quite different than his usual one. He was dressed in what seemed to be an expensive, silver suit, a navy blue shirt underneath, and a silver tie. His shoes were polished, and his hat matches his clothing. Definitely not then usual attire the pirate is usually seen in. He stood there, glaring at Tabart with a blank expression. One could only imagine the things going through his head, after all, their last meeting wasn’t all that “friendly”... "Woah!?" Tabart jumped, turning around from his chair. He recognized that voice from anywhere, considering he was with Kenshiro not too long ago. "Kenshiro, buddy! How ya doing?" Tabart exclaimed, throwing his arm across Kenshiro's shoulder as if he was a close acquaintance. "Been a little bit of a long time since we seen each other huh? Like, what...a week or so? Wasn't too long ago we were tryna kill one another! Then, when we worked together to fight that brute fuck, Abel. Happy as hell you made it off Spicy Pot with no qualms." In response, Kenshiro extended his own arm across Tabart’s shoulder, gripping him and moving from side to side. “Yeah buddy! Been’ a while! Naah that’s okay, let bygones be bygones! That shit in Spicy Pot was hectic! Hahahaha! Barely survived!...In fact, I still have traces of O⁷F³ in my system! Haha, what a riot!!” Kenshiro smiled and laughed, while Samhain and the Den Den Mushi looked each other, a big drop of sweat on the side of their heads. “Remember when you flopped, and Abel hit me in the side of the face? Sending me flying for miles while you played dead for like, half an hour?! HAHAHAHAHAHA! Good times, bro!” Kenshiro continued to smile and exclaim loudly. Suddenly, the room turned cold, the atmosphere got very dense. It even seemed as if the lights dimmed a little. Kenshiro’s death stare towards Tabart made the Den Den Mushi hide back on it’s shell, and Samhain gulped slowly, scared of being caught in whatever was about to happen. With his index and thumb fingers, Kenshiro grabbed Tabart’s arm by his sleeve, pulling it back from his shoulder as he removed his own. He was glaring at Tabart as a parent does to a child when they are quite literally, “tired of their bullshit.” He took a few steps back, and removed his hat, wiping it off with his arm sleeve. “My, my. I swore to myself I’d slit your throat next time I saw you...” he lifted his gaze, and glared at Tabart. “You have ten seconds to tell me what this unexpected visit is all about, before I lose my temper...” "Woah!" Tabart replied, his eyes widened in response to his newfound confusion. "I'm just here to make you some real money is all, buddy! Relax, jeez!" He answered, gently patting his hand on the crown of Kenshiro's head. "Now listen, when I was fighting you, I didn't realize you were some mad genius! You really managed to that intellect of yours behind all that insanity huh?" Tabart inquired, "But turns out you're a science dude! I could use that, and could use me. Remember what my devil fruit is?" Kenshiro placed his hat back on his head, swiping away Tabart’s own hand. “Money, huh?” He walked over to the desk, and motioned to Tabart and Samhain to sit in the chairs in front. “T-That’s MY desk”, Samhain thought as he annoyingly sat on the chair. Kenshiro scratched his chin, and poured himself some wine on Samhain’s cup, which prompted the executive to squint and glare at Kenshiro. “Yes...I know your Devil Fruit. I did some research on you, after all. And I learned quite a bit.” He sipped some wine before continuing. “The , and learning about you more, it seems you’re even an awakened user.” Kenshiro placed his hand on his face, and sighed. “Fine, I’ll listen to your proposal. Let’s see how we can benefit from each other, Tabart...” “Sir”, Samhain interrupted. “Are you sure this is the best course of action? After our recent scientist raid, and our further establishment as an Empire, we’ve been met with quite some resistance from other organizations, attacks and sabotage in every corner of our business.” He gripped his chair tight. “We need to deal with this, before we continue expanding ourselves...” Kenshiro nodded to Samhain. “I know...but that is why, we need to expand...There’s no point in engaging and destroying our enemies, IF we can benefit from them instead. And this man right here, seems to be way ahead on that regard...” He said while grinning slightly towards Tabart. "Yeah shut the fuck up Samhain!" Tabart replied, before completely disregarding Samhain entirely, as if everything he said to him to ease him was completely thrown out the window. "Look here, Ken-doll, this is what I have planned. Just like this greasy bastard over here," he begun, giving a pointed look to Samhain, "I just borrowed a shit ton of cash from the World Government. I'm talking like four of them, um...whatcha call em?" Tabart snapped his fingers. "Heavenly tributes! Yeah, those. Now, I definitely pissed my family off borrowing that money from our funds, so this needs to succeed, but my plan is to start a company. I'm going to call it, Jack's Bean Corporation. Something snazzy like that! I've already begun employing the best farmers, scientist, janitors, maids...." Tabart paused. "Yeah, oh and salesmen! That's the most important part. How you ask? By offering super competitive salaries and benefits that I actually can't really afford to pay yet. But, basically, I done bought tons of land. I mean, TONS of land. Like, so much land, I don't even remember the islands. But, that's not important. What's important is what the company is! Can you take a guess Ken-doll?" There was perhaps a millisecond of silence. "Growing shit! Yes, good job. We're an agriculturalist company. In the last week I've gone all over the damn place, growing shit. I mean, everything. Sugarcanes, Coffee plants, carrots, fruits, whatever you can name! We're going to be the biggest supplier and exporter of raw product in the entire world. I already have entire facilities dedicated to separating cotton fiber from their seeds. My scientist, chemist, engineers, and everyone else are dedicated to getting coffee from their plants, and everything. We're even making aspirin! But, these workers are goody two shoes! I'm looking to grow stuff a little more...dangerous." Kenshiro leaned forward into the desk. Samhain gripped his chair, and snapped at Kenshiro. "Hey! you're gonna let this little bastard address me, an Execu-" Kenshiro placed his index finger on his lips, "shhhhh…" He sipped a bit of wine, before turning it away in disgust. "Ah, right. I don't drink wine." He slid the cup towards Samhain. "Drink this and keep quiet." He then turned his gaze at Tabart, as he leaned back again on the chair. "Interesting. I never took you for such a fellow. Using a front to hide your true intent from the Government, given your status as a Warlord." Kenshiro scratched his chin. He looked around Samhain's desk, opening some drawers, he found a bag of crackers, and began to munch on them. "So...what you're asking is for us to help you on this little project, more specifically, concerning the production of this "dangerous" stuff you want to grow, yes?" He slid the bag of crackers towards Tabart. "I don't like those." Samhain continued to sulk and glare annoyed. "Well, I understand the financial gain that it could potentially produce, this little, project of yours. But, I need something more, you see? Goldilocks here brought a point earlier...I've been facing quite some resistance all over." He began to tap his finger on the desk. "I understand the investments you've done, which is why, you surely understand, that it'll also be an investment on my part to aid in your rise in the Underworld. I have various projects I'm working on, costly ones, and becoming a partner on your company would only add to our demands, though, this is not me declining, this is me, wondering what else can I benefit from, Tabart... Besides!" He pointed a finger upwards, "I'm still curious...Are you sure you want to have a business deal with someone like me? You know what I've done...Thanks to me, poor Neezie is gone." Tabart blinked and tilted his head to the side in confusion. "Who the fuck is nezzie?" Kenshiro stared blankly into the space. He blinked slowly for a few seconds, before nodding to himself. “Yes”, he answered. He then scratched his forehead, suddenly stopping as he held one finger in the air. “In any case, moving on. I need to know what specifically you will grow, Tabart. Yes, we can support your company in more ways than just production...I just, need the same in return” he glared at Tabart and grinned. “Money is all good, but I find more value in something else...information.” “You see, I have deep, very deep connections in the Government, which keep me informed. BUT! You can give me something more...I want to be informed about the Celestial Dragons, Tabart....kun.” "Ah," Tabart begun, exhaling in what appeared to be relief at the start of his sentence. "That's an interesting thing you want to know about, Kenshiro. I'd hate to be that guy, but the Celestial Dragons don't particularly care for my family of Dragons. The Bathories are well respected and well known in Mary Geoise, but we aren't exactly friendly with everyone. Getting that information is possible, but it'll take a little more effort out of me than usual." He stopped, and leaned forward slightly. "Therefore, my question is why. What do you care about their movement for? Most of those dragons have no agenda, no worries; they don't think. They just do. What possible reason could you have for people like that, Ken-doll?" Discussions "Hmm", Kenshiro chuckled slightly as he leaned back on his chair. He began fiddling with a pen on his fingers. "I know they're mindless idiots, most of them, at least. But what I want to know, is more of what surrounds them..." His eyes darted around the room. "I plan on dragging them down from the sky, of course, I won't include your family then. But," he fixated his eyes on Tabart. "I do not want to fail where others have. You see, their "presence" is the cause of this false sense of power and stability, Tabart-kun. Their "power" is based on belief, on the belief they're gods that are destined to hold this world in their grasp, and the power they supposedly hold, is granted by those who blindly accept this..." He shook his head. "No, no...The TRUE gods are those that come from nothing, and rise to power with their own sweat and blood. True "gods" climb the mountain, and assert themselves in their position. Whether the "people" believe in them or not, it does not matter, as their power will not come from beliefs, it will come from their own, and those that surround them!" Kenshiro took a deep breath, and exhaled slowly. "As I am right now, I'm not capable of dragging these false gods to hell itself. That is why I need knowledge of how things operate in the Holy Land. Even I, as a CP-9, having visited the land a few times, remained ignorant of their defenses. That was CP-0's duty. And..." He clenched his fist. "I'm not strong enough, either. But...give me another year, and I will reap everyone and everything that stands in my way...that fucker Abel too..." He smirked at Tabart, as he clapped his hands. "In any case! What do you think, anything else you think we need to discuss before we seal our deal?" Tabart shook his head in disagreement. "I'm not one to discourage anyone from following their dreams, Ken-doll. But what you're doing here, it's not going to lead you anywhere except down a path that many have taken before." His tone grew somber. "There's no defeating them. Because it's not a person, or a group of people. It's an entity which holds the reins of this world. Our only choice is to play our parts, Ken-doll, and to live as long as we can. There's no other option.." Category:Berserkchart486 Category:Lemasters30 Category:Role-Plays